BurmaNet News: October 30, 2000

______________ THE BURMANET NEWS ______________
An on-line newspaper covering Burma
_________October 30, 2000 Issue # 1651_________
INSIDE BURMA _______
*DVB: Burma Air Force F-7 fighter reportedly crashed, pilot killed
*DVB: power struggle between Wa and Kachin people
REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL _______
*AFP: Republican VP candidate defends doing business in Myanmar
*ABC-online: Burma donates cash for Cambodian flood victims
*Reuters: India Says Burma to Probe Killing of Indian Troops
*AFP: Economics to dominate ASEAN summit, Myanmar on backburner
*Bangkok Post: Troops to attack intruders after fatal border shooting in
Tak
ECONOMY/BUSINESS _______
*Xinhua: Myanmar's Tax Revenue Up in 1st Half of 2000
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__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________
DVB: Burma Air Force F-7 fighter reportedly crashed, pilot killed
Text of report by Burmese opposition radio on 29th October
A Burma Air Force [BAF] pilot was killed when his fighter plane crashed
on 19th October. DVB [Democratic Voice of Burma] correspondent Ma Sandar
filed this report.
[Begin Ma Sandar recording] Fighter plane no. 1645 from the 5th Squadron
of Meiktila Air Force Training School attached to the Mingaladon Air
Base crashed over Tada-U [international] airport at 0905 [local time]
while on a mission. The pilot of the fighter plane, Lt Thein Naing Soe,
Burma Air Force Commission No. 2302, was also killed. The plane - an F-7
which the SPDC [State Peace and Development Council] government bought
from China is said to be worth about 1m US dollar. It has been learned
that the authorities concerned have not issued any official news report
concerning the crash. [End of recording]
____________________________________________________
DVB: power struggle between Wa and Kachin people
Text of report by Burmese opposition radio on 29th October
DVB [Democratic Voice of Burma] has learned that there was an internal
coup within the Mongkho Defence Army, MDA, from northern Shan State
which has signed a cease-fire agreement with the SPDC [State Peace and
Development Council], on 24th October, Tuesday.
The situation is still tensed today and the regional SPDC battalion is
said to have encircled the MDA headquarters. Wa Deputy Commander Li Ni
Ming staged the coup because of the dissatisfaction over the Kachin
nationals holding the power in the MDA where the majority are ethnic Wa
people. It has been learned that Kachin leaders - MDA Chairman U Mong
Sar La, Vice Chairman U Zaw La, Intelligence Commander U Mahaw Nawng
Lat, and committee members U Maran Grawng and U La Saing were detained
at the Mongkho headquarters. But Kachin tactical commander U Mar Mong
and some Kachin commanders are regrouping its forces to stage an
offensive to recapture the headquarters.
Battalions under the SPDC Northeast Military Command stationed near the
Monghko headquarters are said to have blockaded Monghko and are waiting
for orders from Rangoon's War Office to continue their movements.
Monghko region was the northern headquarters of the now defunct Burma
Communist Party, BCP. After the disintegration of the Communist Party in
1989, it became the headquarters of the Kokang when the Kokang group
signed a cease-fire agreement with the SPDC. Later it became the
headquarters of the MDA led by Mong Sar La and it has been administered
jointly by Mong Sar La and the SPDC forces since then. It is located
near the Burma-China border and is better know as the Monghko-Manghai
border trade route.
MDA is involved in drugs trafficking and MDA Chairman U Mong Sar la has
been wanted by the Chinese Government for drug trafficking. An unknown
armed group tried to assassinate him twice in 1998 over control of the
drug trafficking territory. An attempted coup was staged in 1998 by some
MDA members and Wa national Hong Lauk Si. The attempted coup failed and
they had to flee to China. DVB correspondent Myo Win Than filed this
report.
Source: Democratic Voice of Burma, Oslo, in Burmese 1245 gmt 29 Oct 00
____________________________________________________
___________________ REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL___________________
AFP: Republican VP candidate defends doing business in Myanmar
WASHINGTON, Oct 28 (AFP) - Republican vice presidential nominee Richard
Cheney has defended his former company's business dealings in Myanmar
despite widespread human rights abuses in the Southeast Asian country.
"It was fully in compliance with US policy and our conduct around the
world," Cheney told CNN's "Larry King Live" show late Friday.
Cheney had been chief executive at Halliburton, a major US oil service
company, for five years prior to being chosen in late July by Republican
presidential candidate George W. Bush as his running mate.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Halliburton landed a contract in
Myanmar in 1996 to participate in building an undersea pipeline.
One year later, the United States banned new US investment in the
country in a bid to isolate its military regime that was brutally
suppressing opposition parties.
But Halliburton remained in Myanmar even though most US companies,
including oil giants Texaco and Atlantic Richfield had pulled out, the
Journal reported.
Since the sanctions did not cover investments made prior to 1997 or
oil-service companies, Halliburton's continued presence in Myanmar did
not appear to violate any laws but was "potentially embarrassing," the
paper concluded.
"We did not support the regime," Cheney told CNN. "We were there
because we had competed on a contract to lay some undersea pipeline
offshore in Myanmar."
He said Halliburton operates in 120 countries of the world, some of
which are not governed in accordance with principles accepted in the
United States.
"The world is not made up only of democracies," he said.
____________________________________________________
ABC-online: Burma donates cash for Cambodian flood victims
ABC- Online ,Oct 29 (13:48:22 AEST) , 2000.
Burma's military government has donated 100,000 US dollars to help
Cambodians suffering from the worst flooding to hit the region in four
decades.
Burma's state-run media says the donation was handed over by Burmese
diplomats on Friday at the Red Cross Society headquaters in Phnom Penh.
More than 300 Cambodians have been killed by flood waters which have
affected over three million people.
Damage to crops and property is estimated to stand at 79 million US
dollars.
____________________________________________________
Reuters: India Says Burma to Probe Killing of Indian Troops
NEW DELHI, India, Oct 28, 2000 -- (Reuters) Burma will launch an inquiry
into the incident this week in which its troops killed three Indian
security personnel on the two countries' border, the Indian government
said on Friday.
"The Burmese government has indicated to us that it will conduct an
inquiry (into the shootings) and inform us about its progress," Indian
foreign ministry spokesman Raminder Singh Jassal told a news conference.
An Indian defence ministry spokesman told Reuters the Burmese army had
submitted an "unqualified apology" for the attack on a patrol party from
the Assam Rifles on Wednesday night.
Officials said it was the first time the Burmese army had attacked
Indian security personnel in an area teeming with separatist guerrillas
fighting the government forces of both countries.
Two Indian troops were also injured in the incident in the remote
northeast Indian State of Nagaland, which took place when Burmese troops
opened fire near the two countries' border.
The Indian interior ministry said in a statement on Friday that local
Burma and Indian Army commanders met on Thursday to seek better
coordination to eliminate future incidents.
____________________________________________________
AFP: Economics to dominate ASEAN summit, Myanmar on backburner
[Abridged]
Sunday, October 29 9:43 AM SGT
SINGAPORE, Oct 29 (AFP) - Economic integration will headline next
month's ASEAN summit with the thorny issue of Myanmar kept out of the
spotlight, and a Spratly's code of conduct again left unresolved,
officials said.
Summit hosts Singapore are already wired up to push their integration
message at the informal summit, so called because it contains no formal
agenda.
The road will not be easy. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN), often described as an ineffective sunset organisation, was
unable to produce a united response to the 1997 financial crisis.
Members of the 10-nation grouping are now at various stages of recovery
and not all see integration as a priority.
But for trade-dependent Singapore, ASEAN economic integration is of
prime national importance.
"With enlargement, ASEAN must take steps to integrate the new members
with the region and the world economy," the government said in a
statement.
"We must also take concrete and practical steps to enhance ASEAN's
economic competitiveness."
Easing the path to preparing the unwritten agenda has been ASEAN's
success in having the European Union (EU) agree to talks in December,
ending a freeze in relations since Myanmar was admitted to ASEAN ranks
in 1987.
Myanmar is under fire from the EU for its treatment of pro-democracy
leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is under effective house arrest, and from
the International Labour Organisation for the use of forced labour.
But ASEAN, with a policy of not interfering in the internal affairs of
its members, has resisted all pressure to intervene.
____________________________________________________
Bangkok Post: Troops to attack intruders after fatal border shooting in
Tak
Oct 29, 2000.
Border forces have been instructed to attack any armed group which
intrudes into Thailand, following Wednesday's clash which left one
soldier dead and two others injured.
The order was issued yesterday by Naresuan Task Force commander Maj-Gen
Tomorn Kittisophon, who said patrols would also be increased along the
border.
"If intruders carry firearms onto our soil and attack our forces, it
means they violate our sovereignty. I have ordered our forces to take
drastic measures against foreign intruders," he said.
Maj-Gen Tomorn yesterday visited the injured soldiers at Mae Sot
hospital. He delivered cash donated by Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai to
the wounded and to the family of the dead soldier.
Wednesday's clash occurred when a patrol unit ran into a group of armed
intruders in Umphang district, Tak.
After a brief exchange of fire, Warrant Officer Sawong Imlaem, of the
43rd battalion, was found dead. Warrant Officer Noppadol Thana and
Private Chatuphon Yaifa were seriously wounded.
_______________ ECONOMY AND BUSINESS _______________
Xinhua: Myanmar's Tax Revenue Up in 1st Half of 2000
Xinhua, Rangoon, 28 October 2000. Myanmar's State Internal Revenue
Department received a total of 28.426 billion kyats (81.2 million U.S.
dollars) in revenue from various taxes in the first six months of this
year, up 5.3 percent from a year ago, according to the latest official
economic indicators.
Of the revenue obtained during the period, 47.1 percent was from
commodities and services taxes and commercial tax, 32.2 percent from
income tax, 10.1 percent from state lottery, 8.8 percent from profit tax
and 1.8 percent from stamp duties. Of these taxes, commercial tax on
commodities sold in foreign exchange was introduced in January 1999.
Myanmar has increased collection of taxes year by year and revenue
obtained from the collection stood the highest in fiscal 1999-2000,
which ended in March, with 51.988 billion kyats (148.5 million dollars)
since 1995-96 when it was 16.687 billion kyats ( 47.6 million dollars).
Meanwhile, Myanmar received 465 million dollars from import customs
duties in the first half of this year, 17.84 percent more than that
obtained in the corresponding period of 1999.
*******
BurmaNet adds: While Burma?s tax collections may have increased 5.3%
over a year ago, inflation has exceeded 5% several times over. Once
adjusted for inflation, tax collections seem to have fallen sharply,
implying either a slow down in the economy or that the government has
become less effective at collecting taxes owed.
________________
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